It was Monday morning.
Sandy was seated at her desk instead of having her usual before-school-starts chat with her friends. She just did not have the time that morning. That was because she was rushing to finish up the last of her homework.
She kind of forgot the homework over the weekend, really. Well, see, she had left all her homework to be done at the last moment, on Sunday night. In her rush to get it all done, she had missed one Maths assignment.
That should not have been a surprise. It had happened twice that semester already.
The front door opened and there was a little black-haired girl at the doorway. She had a striped beanie on her head and under her unbuttoned coat, she was dressed in a sweater and slacks. She looked lost as she stared into the room.
"Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" Randy, who sat next to the door asked.
Sandy thought she recognized the girl's features - her blue eyes, her small mouth. It looked a lot like... "Aren't you Annie Billings from 9-C?" she asked.
The girl at the door glanced up at something outside. "Yeah. Looks like what I'm looking for isn't here," she excused herself and hurried away.
Was it really Annie? Two weekends had passed since Sandy had heard of the little girl's fall from the bridge. Was Annie back from the hospital? Annie had always dressed stylishly with bright, attention-grabbing colors. That girl just a moment before looked ordinary, just like any other student in the background.
Surely Selina had also seen that girl. Sandy turned around in time to see her tall friend exit through the back door. She guessed that Selina went to investigate.
Sandy walked to Selina's desk at the back of the class and waited for her classmate's return. Esper was talking with Ariel at the latter's table. Sandy thought of joining her friends, but she did not want to bring up the subject of Annie with them.
Plus they were speaking in Spanish.
As she waited, Sandy leaned against Selina's desk. Esper glanced once in her direction but did not interrupt her conversation with Ariel.
Finally, Selina returned to the class through the back door. Sandy got up and went to meet her. But before she could ask anything, the school bell rang. Questions would have to wait till later.
As Sandy walked back to her desk, she saw the homework that she had abandoned. Oh no, it was not finished yet!
Too bad for Sandy. She would have to submit an incomplete homework. She would probably be chided on a future date by Mrs Kingston. Fortunately it was not one of the stern Ms Redgrave's assignments. Otherwise, Sandy would probably be scolded until her ears burned, in addition to being punished with an extra helping of homework.
As such, Sandy totally forgot about her impending scolding by the end of the first period. Mrs Kingston was just too nice sometimes.
***
During break, Sandy was with Selina out on the corridor. A glance through the window on the back door of class 9-C revealed that Annie was being interviewed by Keith McDowell, reporter-in-training.
"Is that really Annie?" Sandy asked as they stepped away from the door.
"She certainly looks like her," Selina allowed.
"You're not sure, are you?" Sandy asked.
"No," Selina said as she started towards their class, "Why are you so interested?"
"Why are you interested?" Sandy asked back.
Selina stopped at the back door of their class and turned to Sandy. "To make sure she doesn't do anything funny, like hiring you again. Is that why you're interested? You're after her money?"
Sandy glanced away. "Well, yeah," she admitted.
"Just stay away from her," Selina advised as she opened the door.
Once in the class, Selina went back to her desk. Sandy went to Ariel instead.
Ariel stopped her Spanish conversation with Esper when Sandy arrived. "What're you up to with Selina?" she asked in the language Sandy was familiar with, "Are you hiding some secret?"
"You're the same, talking in a language I don't understand."
"It's Spanish," Ariel said, "And Selina knows it too. So it's not like I'm hiding anything."
"I'm not hiding anything either," Sandy said.
Ariel shrugged. "Ah fine, I can just ask Selina later."
"Okay, then."
There was an awkward silence after that. It lasted until the bell rang.
***
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